Stay By Your Side
by Liza Taylor
Summary: Minako is the leader of SEES. Being leader is hard work and enough trouble but when she starts feeling weird around Akihiko...well it looks like things are going to get interesting.AkihikoXMinako FeMC
1. Chapter 1

**So yet another AkihikoXFeMC fic. I am obsessed with this pairing and I have to get it out somehow. All of my readers for my other stories are probably going crazy with me putting up new stories all the time. Haha.**

**Note: I wasn't sure which block of Tartarus they should be in (I just started a new file so I can't double check) so sorry that it's so vague. **

Minako was not your typical high school student.

In fact she was probably not close to your idea of a typical high school student. By day a normal girl but by night, a powerful persona-user who battled evil creatures called Shadows. Yeah. Not a typical girl at all.

Minako shook her head. Okay. She really needed to stop daydreaming in class and thinking of weird narrations that would come out of some anime. There was no way she would fall to Junpei's level. Speaking of Junpei, she took a peek to see what he was doing. Elbow resting on his desk, his head resting on his hand, cap pulled down. Obviously sleeping.

On her other side Yukari was taking notes from the math lesson on the board. Well at least she was a good student. Aigis was the same as Yukari, paying attention to what was going on.

Minako focused on the notes on the board and began to copy them down with half of her brain. The other half was planning the expedition to Tartarus for tonight. She wanted to have a Tartarus expedition today and have them go up a couple more floors than the usual amount. Hmmm, that might not go over too well with Junpei but whatever. She was the leader and she wanted them to be ready for anything. A little training never hurt anyone plus she knew that although Junpei would complain about it, he would follow her orders.

The rest of math class went by quickly and soon the bell rang the signal that school was over for the day.

Junpei stretched in his chair. "That was a good nap." He looked around and noticed that everyone was leaving. "Huh? What did I miss?"

"Class Stupei," replied Yukari. "And don't ask for my notes cause you aren't getting them." She got up and left to go to archery practice.

"Yukari has told me that giving notes to Junpei will not let him learn," said Aigis in her robotic voice. "So I will refuse to give you my notes."

Junpei groaned and turned to Minako. "Please?"

Minako shook her head and tried to keep a straight face. "Sorry Junpei. This is something you are just going to have to deal with."

"No! Not you too!" Junpei collapsed on his desk. "All of you are going to regret not giving me your notes one day. Look out! You'll be trouble and I won't save you because you didn't give me your notes!"

Minako rolled her eyes. "We'll see when that day comes." She was about to head out when she noticed Aigis was getting ready to leave as well. "Oh you don't have to come with me," she told Aigis quickly.

"But I have to remain by your side," protested Aigis.

Minako sighed. Ever since Aigis joined them that was all she was saying to her whenever Minako wanted to go somewhere. It was really bad in the first week when Aigis wanted to go to the bathroom with her. Mitsuru was somewhat successful in stopping that behavior. Aigis now guarded the door from the outside.

"I'll be fine," replied Minako. "Plus I want to run a few errands before heading back. It'll take a while and then I want to go see if Officer Kurosawa was able to get his hands on some new weapons."

Aigis seemed hesitant but she nodded. "Alright."

"See you both tonight!" Minako bid farewell and headed out into the hallway. As she walked to the stairs she ran through her mind all the things she had to get done. It was her turn this week to buy the groceries and then maybe visit Bunkichi and Mitsko if she had the time and then got visit Officer Kurosawa. Or maybe she shouldn't visit the old couple today? Or maybe she should wait a while before getting new weapons?

She was broken out of her thoughts as she walked down the stairs by the squeal of many girls packed into one area. Without even having to look she knew who was near the bottom of the stairs. Oh boy. Now she hoped she could get out of the school today much less get all the stuff she needed to do done.

When she reached the bottom she knew that without a miracle it was going to take a while. Akihiko, star of the boxing club as well as member of SEES was surrounded on all sides by his fangirls. All were clamoring to talk to him but all Akihiko looked like he wanted to do was anything but that.

His brown eyes spotted Minako in her little corner and he waved to her. Minako was about to wave back when she felt evil stares from the fangirls around him. That changed her mind. Sure she could take on a Shadow more than twice her size but fangirls? Those were in another league entirely. So instead of waving she shot Akihiko a quick smile before pushing her way through the fangirl crowd to get out of this situation. Well, at least now the fangirls moved out of her way. They were happy to get rid of her so they could have Akihiko to themselves.

It would have been perfect if Akihiko got the message himself. Instead he was also pushing through the fangirls until he was next to her. "Hey Minako-chan. You heading home?"

Oh boy. Minako could feel the fangirl stares burning her skin off. "No. It's my turn to go grocery shopping so I'm going to do that." Fangirl stares were reaching a whole new level. Minako knew it was time for her to get out of there before she was knocked out of commission. Heck, it was so bad that she thought if SEES could get these fangirls into Tartarus then all of the Shadows would be destroyed without SEES having to do a thing.

"Oh?" said Akihiko, "Maybe I should come with you. Knowing Shinji he probably is asking for a lot." He chuckled and Minako thought she saw some of the fangirls swoon.

"Oh no, I'll be fine," said Minako quickly. She strained to keep a smile on her face even though the fangirl glares were tearing her apart. She forced a laugh out. "Well I should probably get going. Many things to get done tonight!"

Yeah.

Time for her to make her escape.

"Well bye!" she turned quickly and walked away. Fast. She could hear Akihiko calling her name but that just made her walk away faster. It wasn't like she didn't like Akihiko. He was good in the Tartarus battles. She knew she could rely on him. It was just their actual relationship that bugged her sometimes. Especially after the love hotel incident. Her face turned bright red as she made it out of the school. Now that was something she didn't want to repeat. If the fangirls knew something like that happened…well she wouldn't live to see another day that was for sure. She shook her head to remove that image out of her head. Akihiko in a bath towel making sweet talk to her for a few moments.

Well it was a good thing he snapped out of it so fast cause otherwise it would have really gotten messy. She had her evoker and she wasn't afraid to use it. She shook her head again. Why was she thinking about this again? She lightly hit her cheeks. "Right Minako. Focus. Shopping to do now and Tartarus later. No time to daydream." With that firm resolution in mind she headed towards the station.

Linelinelineline

Minako dodged to the left before the Shadow could land a blow on her before she swung her naginata deep into its body. It burst into pieces and she turned to fight the next one. Around her, her teammates were doing the same. They had already gone up four floors today but Minako wanted to try to get more done today.

The others had not complained much, well except for Junpei but that was to be expected. They all knew how importance it was to defeat the powerful Shadows during the full moon. The more prepared they were the better.

She could hear the sounds of evokers being used around her as her friends sent out their persona to take care of an enemy for them. That was fine by her.

Hearing a cry behind her, Minako turned to see Ken getting attacked by one of those creepy lover Shadows with the floating heart for a head. She really didn't like them as they reminded her of that love hotel incident that she really wanted to forget. But that did not change her role as leader at all and like the leader she was, she ran to Ken's aid.

The lover Shadow's fencing foil struck out again but Minako stopped the blow with her naginata. "Move Ken," ordered Minako as she struggled to keep the Shadow's foil from getting closer to her body. "Go to a safe area and heal your wounds."

"But…" protested Ken.

Minako glared down at him. "Go!" she cried before focusing her full attention on the Shadow. She had a problem. This Shadow was not relenting on its attack. Because of this Minako had to keep her naginata in a guard position or risk getting turned into a kebab. It was so strong that she wasn't even sure she could let go with one hand so she could grab her evoker to summon one of her personas to help her out. Not a good situation at all.

"Polydeuces!"

Minako blinked in surprise as Akihiko's persona came to her aid by hitting the Shadow with a Zionga.

"You okay?" asked Akihiko as he hurried to her side. Genuine concern was clear on his face.

"Fine," replied Minako. She blushed slightly and looked away from him. How embarrassing. The leader of the battles in SEES was having trouble with one lousy Shadow.

Akihiko was about to say something when the Shadow returned for a second round. This time Minako was prepared with her evoker and she summoned Sarasvati who she commanded to use Bufula against the Shadow. That killed off the Shadow and Minako faced Akihiko. "Don't worry. I'm not losing my touch. I can still fight." Feeling weird she turned away from him.

"That's good at least," said Akihiko. "Don't push yourself though. You're always working so hard."

Minako knew she was probably blushing like crazy now. Of course she worked hard. They were fighting creepy monster-things here! She had to so she could fufill her role as leader. "We should continue to fight now," she said quickly. "Otherwise the others will get stronger without us." Without a look back she ran to attack another Shadow.

Linelinelineline

Minako collapsed on her bed. She was exhausted mentally and physically from running around so much. And somehow, even with all that battling they still had some time left before the Dark Hour was over.

Burying her head in her pillow she thought over the events of the day. When did it get so awkward around Akihiko? It felt like a situation like tonight seemed to happen a lot. She didn't know why she tended to avoid him now. "What in the world is going on?" she said into her pillow.

She suddenly had a thought and lifted her head up. It couldn't be. Was she actually having feelings for Akihiko? No way. That couldn't be right.

Or could it?

She thought about it. In the beginning she didn't really understand what was so special about him. He just seemed really cocky and arrogant and those fangirls…sheesh. However, over the couple of months she had spent living here she had seen another side of him. A more caring side. He did care about SEES and its members. This was the side that the fangirls never got to see. All the times he had backed her up in fights and that one time when they ate out and he said that her fighting made him angry. She didn't know what he meant by it and she was too afraid to ask. But could that have been?

She buried her face into her pillow again.

Not good thoughts.

Feeling a presence next to her, she turned her head to see a young boy in a striped shirt standing there. "Hey Pharos," she said. She sat up and sat cross-legged on her bed.

"You seem troubled," spoke the young boy. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," replied Minako. "Just thinking." She laughed. "Strange but I think I might have feelings for Akihiko-senpai."

"Oh?" said Pharos in surprise.

"I know," said Minako as she ran her fingers through her brown hair. "Funny right?"

"No," replied Pharos. "I think it's wonderful." He smiled.

"Well I don't think so," said Minako. Great. Pharos was no help at all. She fell back on her bed. "Thanks for nothing Pharos."

Pharos's smile dropped. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad."

Minako opened her mouth to reply but the Dark Hour ended and she was left in an empty non-green room. Great. She wouldn't get to apologize for sounding stupid until tomorrow and that would be only if he came back to visit.

She stared up at her ceiling. Could it really be true? Did she have feelings for Akihiko? The weird part was, deep down she knew it was true. It was true for a while now but she was just too stubborn to admit it. Too stubborn to change the relationship between them for what would happen if he rejected her? They were members of the same fighting group. She wouldn't be able to get away from him. But still…

She remembered her friend Rio. She had accepted her feelings for Kenji and was now doing everything she could to get the guy to notice her in that way. A smile crossed her face. Well, maybe it was time she stepped up to the plate as well. She was leader after all. She had a lot of confidence.

Who was she kidding?

Something like this a girl could never have confidence in. Maybe she would just take it slow for now. Good idea. She went under her covers. There was school tomorrow-er today after all. She would think about this later. Later would be a good time…


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here is chapter 2. When you are reading the chapter, I know the event with Chidori in it never happens in the actual game but it's something that I thought would happen in my first play through. Since this is a fanfic I thought I would go ahead and put it in for added drama. Okay. Enjoy!**

It was another chilly September day. Minako was sitting in class, her head sitting in her hand. She was listening to the lecture on ancient Japan with half of her brain, the other was figuring out what to do. It was getting closer and closer to the next full moon. She bit her lip. She was always apprehensive during this time but it looked like the others never seemed to pick it up. That was good. She didn't want to worry the others. She had to be the big bad leader who can take on anything with a smile.

A small sad smile slipped out of her mind and onto her face before she could stop it. She would never be able to tell the others how scared she was during some of the battles. Scared for the others as well as scared for herself. She was even scared that one day she would not be able to keep everyone safe.

_"Whoa Minako! Way to think positive." _She shook her head and focused on the lesson. It was weird but it seemed like she did most of her deep thinking during class. At least she was a pretty good student so her grades didn't suffer too much from these moments. Unlike Junpei who decided to catch up on some sleep during class again.

She sighed. Somehow she felt that he was going to beg for her notes again. Maybe she should put Aigis on Junpei watch. That would make it much easier to deal with him. She smiled at the thought. That would be hilarious to see and knowing Aigis she would go to any lengths to get the job done. Maybe she should try it after all.

It was then when a small piece of paper landed on her desk. A quick look told her it was from Yukari who gave Minako a small wave before returning her attention to the board. Minako checked the teacher's position before opening the note.

"I'm going to visit Chidori today. You should come too. Mitsuru thinks you might be able to get a reaction out of her since you are our leader."

Minako looked up from the note and saw Yukari was glancing back at her. She nodded to signal that she was okay with it before returning her attention to the board again. Great. With this plan, her whole afternoon plan was messed up. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. If by Minako being in the same room as Chidori could help them learn about Strega then she would do it. She felt like SEES would need any lead they could get.

Linelinelineline

After school let out Yukari and Minako headed for the hospital. Junpei, Mitsuru and Akihiko were going to meet up with the girls later.

"I can't wait to see Chidori actually," admitted Minako as they crossed a street. "I mean, the last time I saw her was during that last Shadow fight."

"Well you didn't miss much," replied Yukari. "She's pretty much a zombie now. She's been asking for Medea a lot. Oh. There it is."

As they got closer to the hospital, Minako felt her stomach hurt a bit. She didn't like hospitals that much. It was at one that she learned that her parents had died before the doctors could save them. But like always she didn't let it show. She kept up her usually perky attitude as they rode the elevator.

"Well I just hope she says something useful," said Yukari as the doors opened up.

Minako braced herself and followed Yukari out. The hospital floor was full of doctors and nurses going about their daily business. The smell of the hospital made her slightly sick. She wondered how she had managed to sleep here for a week after her collapse after her first persona summoning.

She slowly sucked in another breath. Deep breaths Minako. Calm down.

"Here's Chidori's room," said Yukari as they stopped before one of the doors. Before they could walk in though Yukari's phone rang. "Darn. I thought I put it on vibrate." She checked the number and an annoyed expression crossed her face. "Sorry Minako. It's my mom."

"You can answer it," replied Minako. She knew Yukari was having problems with her mom wanting to remarry. Any instance for them to make-up was good for Yukari. "I'll go in by myself. You join me when you're done talking to her."

"But…"

Minako shook her head. "Yukari. Your mother is trying to reach out to you. Just pick it up and talk to her."

Yukari shot Minako a grateful look before picking up.

Knowing this was a private mother-daughter moment, Minako slipped into Chidori's room. Like all other hospital rooms, it was mostly bare in the decoration department. Of course the girl sitting up in the bed made up for it. Even though she was in a hospital gown she still had the weird headpiece that made it seem like a dagger was going through her head.

"Who are you?" she asked. She stared at Minako with dull brown eyes.

"I'm Minako," replied the brunette as she made her way over to the bedside.

"Minako," Chidori repeated slowly. Emotion seemed to flood her face. "The leader Minako then?"

"Um yeah," replied Minako.

"Then you lead the fights against the Shadows."

"Uh, yeah," Minako wasn't sure where this was going.

Chidori lifted her hands out from under the covers. It was only then that Minako noticed that one of her hands was bleeding. She remembered Mitsuru mentioning that Chidori injuries herself. She could not do anything about it though for Chidori moved with almost inhuman speed. Her hands wrapped around Minako's neck and she squeezed with what Minako felt like was supper-human strength.

"If I get rid of you then the Dark Hour will not disappear."

Minako clawed at the hands around her neck but Chidori seemed immune to the pain. Well the girl cut herself so that could explain it. She really wished she brought her evoker with her or something that would help stop this crazy girl. She turned her red eyes to the door but Yukari wasn't coming in. No way. _"Yukari!"_ she screamed in her mind as she clawed away at Chidori's hands. She could not die here!

Linelinelineline

Yukari clicked the off button and stared at her phone. Her mom was pretty much begging her to come back and support her decision to get married. "No way am I meeting one of your new boyfriends," she said angrily to the phone. It didn't help that she had recently found out that her father was behind the whole Dark Hour mess that was going on.

"Hey Yuka-tan! What are you doing out here?"

Yukari groaned and turned around. Junpei, Mitsuru and Akihiko had just left the elevator. Junpei was being his obnoxious self, which was nothing new. "What Stupei?" she asked as she put her phone back in her pocket.

"Where's Arisato?" asked Mitsuru. Even in her school uniform she looked like something out of a fashion magazine. No hair was out of place no unwanted wrinkles. Yukari wondered how she did it all the time.

"She already went in," replied Yukari as she walked over to the door to Chidori's room and pulled it open. She gasped when she saw Chidori's hands wrapped around Minako's neck.

"Minako!" Akihiko pushed past Yukari and rushed to Minako's side and began trying to remove Chidori's hands while Junpei was trying to pull Chidori away from her.

"Chidori! Let go!" yelled Junpei.

"Doctor! Come in quick!" Mitsuru yelled.

Yukari stood shell-shocked as a doctor rushed in and injected something into Chidori's arm. Chidori's grip on Minako slackened slightly and Akihiko used that to pull Minako out of harm's way. The leader of SEES bent over coughing forcefully while rubbing her neck. She sucked in a couple of deep breaths before lifting her head.

"That was surprising," she said lightly, chuckling slightly once she had caught her breath back.

"What happened Mina-tan?" asked Junpei as the doctor began fussing over Chidori. "She's never acted like this before."

"Hang on," spoke up Yukari. "Junpei. She was almost strangled to death. Shouldn't you wait with the questions?"

Minako waved Yukari's concern away. "Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. As for Chidori. It was after she found out I was the leader. She says if she got rid of me then the…" She trailed off and glanced at the doctor before continuing. "that time will still be around."

"I don't think you should visit her again," said Akihiko.

Minako stiffened and she glanced behind her. "Oh Akihiko-senpai," she said in surprise. Yukari wasn't sure but she thought she saw Minako's face turn a slight red.

"I agree Akihiko," replied Mitsuru. She crossed her arms. "It would be a problem if this was to happen again. Even if someone was in the room to help Chidori looked like she would not let go."

"Alright," said Minako.

"I'll take her home," offered Yukari as she suddenly recovered her voice.

"Thank you Takeba," said Mitsuru.

"Be careful on the way back you two," said Akihiko.

"We will," promised Yukari as the two girls stepped out of the hospital room. "I'm sorry Minako," she said softly as they made their way to the elevator.

Minako looked at her in surprise. "For what?"

"If I didn't take the call from my mom then you wouldn't have been in that situation."

"No no!" Minako said quickly. "It's not your fault. I just didn't see it coming, that's all."

"How can you always be like that?" asked Yukari as they stepped into the elevator. "You always act like…I don't know…" Yukari scratched the back of her head. Okay. This wasn't working. Maybe a different topic? "Hey. Do you like Akihiko or something? I noticed that you stiffened when you noticed he was standing right behind you."

From the way Minako froze and was releasing small laughs, Yukari knew she hit it right on the mark. "Wow. I didn't expect that."

"Don't tell him please," she begged. "I'm still trying to figure it out myself."

"Of course not," said Yukari. "Girls honor." She was happy for Minako. The girl was always trying her best with the only reward being the destruction of those huge Shadows. In fact Yukari was sure she had never seen Minako truly upset before. Where did this girl put all the sadness and suffering anyway? Maybe it was good for her to feel love for another.

"Yukari?" asked Minako. "You okay?"

"Fine," replied Yukari quickly. "Just thinking."

"Alright then," said the leader of SEES as the doors to the elevator opened. "Hey, you want to go get something sweet? I know Mitsuru wanted me to go back to the dorm right away but still."

"Sure," replied Yukari. "And there we can talk about your little crush."

Minako looked horrified. "Do we have to?"

"Come on," teased Yukari. "You know you want to."

"No I do not," replied Minako quickly.

This form of bickering went back and forth as they left the hospital on the way to the sweet shop.

**Ack! For some reason this chapter was so hard for me to write! I don't know why but it was. X-X. So sorry if it's not up to par with the last one. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. Thank you all who enjoyed the previous chapter! There's a poll up for a persona 3 AU fic and I would appreciate if you all voted on it!**

**I don't have my PSP with me so I cannot check the October battle so it'll be from memory and like before, it is altered for this story.**

Minako woke with a start and sat upright in bed. Her breathing was heavy and she was drenched in sweat. She lifted her hand to her neck and she massaged it. Like all the times she did it before she didn't feel anything, no hands trying to strangle the life out of her. She sighed in relief and collapsed back on her bed. How many times had this happened before now? This was ridiculous!

"Are you alright?"

Minako turned her head to the left. "Hey Pharos," she said to the young boy. It must be the Dar k Hour now then if he was here. Minako had not been going to Tartarus for the last couple of days due to Mitsuru wanting to make sure she was alright and recovered after the almost-death incident.

"You've been having nightmares for the past few days haven't you?" asked the young boy. His eyes were cast to the side giving him an innocent, sad look. "I've noticed. Want to tell me what they are about?"

Minako sat up again and ran a hand through her lose brown hair. "It's complicated," she said. Pharos didn't move and that pretty much told her that she could continue. "Well, I was almost choked to death by a member of Strega." She chuckled. "Weird that I'll still be having dreams about it right?"

"Not at all," replied Pharos "You're scared. It's quite normal."

"But I am the leaders," protested Minako. "I'm not allowed to be scared. I need to be strong so I can lead."

"But you shouldn't push yourself," said Pharos. "Please don't push yourself. You don't want to collapse do you?"

"I'll be fine," replied Minako crossly. She fall back on her bed and turned away from Pharos.

"I'm sorry," said the young boy.

Minako did not move. When she didn't hear anything else from Pharos she turned back over but the boy was gone. She bit her lip. "Sorry Pharos," she called out to the darkness of her room.

Linelinelineline

Akihiko punched a shadow out with his fists. Nearby Yukari and Junpei were teamed up to fight another, Shinjiro was holding his own against one and Mitsuru and Ken were fighting another. He didn't understand why but he had been really angry recently but he didn't know why.

Although he did notice that whenever he did feel angry his thoughts would float to Minako. How pale she looked with Chidori's hands wrapped around her neck. How weak and frail their leader looked. It was strange to see her like that. She was usually so strong. Well she had returned to that way after she had recovered from Chidori's attack. But still. She didn't look fine.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru's warning yell brought the young man back to the battle around him and he quickly took out a Shadow that was going to attack him.

"What are you doing Aki?" asked Shinjiro in his usual gruff way. "You have to pay attention or you're going to get killed out here."

"I know," Akihiko replied.

"Why don't you just fix up this little problem you have?"

"What do you mean?"

Shinjiro didn't reply. Instead he began knocking Shadows out left and right.

Linelineline

Minako left her final class with a long sigh. It was the night of a full moon. Mitsuru had demeaned her fight enough to be on the front-lines again a couple days ago and that's what she did. She had to get back in shape before today. She was the leader. Everyone was counting on her to defeat the Shadows.

Her thoughts drifted to Akihiko. Tartarus had become really awkward with him around. At least she could focus on the mission at hand to try to take her mind off him the best she could. That only helped a little though. She could still feel his eyes watching her as she fought. In the real world it had become one of her newest skills to try to keep away from Akihiko. She was getting pretty good at it too. Yukari on the other hand didn't think this was a good idea at all. She had told Minako to just ask the guy if he felt the same way or not. Easy for her to say. Yukari never had a boyfriend before.

"Minako."

Minako flinched and turned around slowly. "Oh, hi Akihiko-senpai," she said. She put on her leader face. At least she had some advantage over him. "Want to talk about the uh school at that hour?" She could feel stares burning into her back. Great. She had only been talking to him for a few seconds and the fangirls were already on a rampage.

"Can we talk somewhere?" he asked. "You know, before tonight's mission?"

"Uh well, I don't know," she finished lamely. The fangirl stares were really bothering her. Yeah, they were the reason she couldn't think straight. If they weren't around she would be alright.

Akihiko blinked slowly. "What do you mean that you don't know?"

Minako rose her hands up in a defensive gesture. "Well it's just that you know," she dropped her voice to a softer pitch. "With people around us you know? Can't talk about it here."

Akihiko looked around like he just remembered about his fangirls. "Right. We should head back to the dorm together then."

"Oh, great," said Minako. She felt like her skin was being peeled away from her back as she walked next to Akhiko. And the bad thing was that the stares were not going away. As she continued to walk, the stares followed her. Great. Were the fangirls following them? "Ummm, do you always follow you this much?" she asked lightly. A small chuckle left her mouth at the end.

Akihiko looked back. He was probably used to them following him around so much that this didn't bother him anymore. "They usually stop following me when I get to the school gate. Although it is quite strange that they aren't swarming around me like they usually do."

"I wonder why," said Minako slowly. Maybe she should think about bringing her evoker to school. Mitsuru could pull some strings so she wouldn't get in trouble for bringing a gun. She could say it's for self-defense.

They crossed the gate of the school but that didn't reduce the stares at all. Well at least the pain in her back as getting weaker and weaker the further away from the school they got.

The two were painfully silent. Minako wished she knew some kind of icebreaker. Grrr. If only Junpei were here. He would say something stupid and then she could work off it.

"So, are you feeling okay? You know, if you aren't feeling up to it you don't have to lead in the fight tonight."

Minako shook her heads, "Akihiko-senpai. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She smiled. "Plus, this one Shadow will be no match for me!"

Akihiko chuckled. "Of course. That's the kind of person you are."

Minako looked away. She knew her face was turning red. Oh boy. Calm down girl. Calm down. "Oh look! There's the dorm," she began to walk faster. "I should probably go rest before tonight right?"

"Right," said Akihiko but he looked unsure but Minako was not going to sit around and wait to see what it was about so she hurried into the dorm.

Linelineline

Minako relaxed her arms. Tonight's shadow had been very difficult and it didn't help that Ken and Shinjiro, for some reason had decided not to show up tonight. Even if the battle wasn't too difficult it was hard.

"See? I can redeem myself," said Junpei proudly.

"Oh shut up Stupei," Yukari shot back.

"Hang on," said Akihiko, stopping in his tracks as the group was heading back to the dorm. "Today is October fourth…"

"So?" asked Junpei.

"You guys go on without me," said Akihiko before running off without another word.

Minako had a very bad feeling about this but she couldn't put her finger on it. "I'm going after Akihiko," she announced before running after him.

It was then that she learned how fast Akihiko was. He was running-no sprinting in the direction of that shady ally that Junpei, Yukari and Minako had went down a couple weeks before. Her eyes widen in shock when she saw Takaya there holding a gun. Ken and Shinjiro were there as well but Shinjiro was on the ground clutching his stomach.

It didn't take much brain power to know what the heck was going on. Minako yanked out her evoker and pointed it to her head. "Unicorn!" The unicorn was summoned in an instance and she jumped on its back without breaking a stride. She could see Akihiko looking at her in surprise as she rode past.

Takaya was continuing his speech but Minako wasn't listening at all. She was getting closer and closer and once she was close enough she jumped off unicorn's back and stood in front of Shinjiro, her naginata at the ready.

"Hey," she snapped angrily. "I can't let you hurt any of my teammates."

"Get out of here," snapped Shinjiro. "Take Ken and go."

The young boy on the other hand just stared in shock at Minako.

"How touching," Takaya chuckled. He lifted his gun and pointed it at Minako. "Maybe I should send you away first."

Minako pointed the sharp end of the weapon at Takaya. "Don't even try me," she snapped. "You mess with my teammates and I will seriously have a problem with you. Don't mess with me." She looked down at Shinjiro out of the corner of her red eyes before focusing her attention on Takaya again. It looked like Shinjiro would be okay for the moment but still. A wound like that might be a problem if help wasn't gotten quickly.

Minako lifted her evoker to her head to summon a persona to teach him a lesson when she heard a gunshot fire. She blinked in confusion at the sound. She hadn't fired yet.

She could hear someone calling out her name but she was too distracted by the pain that was coming from her abdomen area. Looking down she noticed a red area growing and Takaya was laughing.

Oh.

_"I just got shot,_" she thought as her world went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4. It seems I do my persona writing before mythology class…Lol. Random but the song Mozaik Role has been stuck in my head for the longest time now and it won't go away… **

**If you haven't voted on the poll, go vote! The last one ended in a tie so this will decide the AU fic I will write! And I'm really excited because my p3p cosplay is pretty much done! Watch out AnimeNext 2011! A Minako in summer outfit will be there!**

**Anyway, enjoy the completely original material chapter!**

Akihiko didn't know what just happened.

He had been running to help Shinjiro when he felt a strong breeze and saw Minako fly past him on the back of Unicorn like a vicious warrior woman from a time long forgotten. She had jumped from the back of Unicorn and stood between Shinjiro and Takaya.

She had stood there proudly with her naginata. Her voice had been clear when she told Takaya to never mess with her teammates. He admired her courage and strength she held. Even with a gun pointed at her she refused to back down. She looked like she could overcome anything that got in her way.

Anything but a gun.

He watched in slow motion as Takaya pulled the trigger. As Minako's eyes widen in pure shock as she looked down at her chest where a dark red was beginning to gather.

Takaya was grinning like a manic and he laughed as she slowly fell to the ground. Or she would have if Shinjiro hadn't moved in time to catch her.

"Minako!" yelledAkihiko, finally getting his voice back He began running towards her. The limp figure in Shinjio's arms reminded Akihiko too much of the time in the hospital. Chidori's arms wrapped around Minako's throat going to strangle the life out of her. This time reminded him so much of then but different. This time she truly could be dead.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Takaya lifted his gun and pointed it to Shinjiro. The young man gritted his teeth and shifted his body so he was between Minako and the gun. "No more girls to protect you."

Akihiko knew he was too far away to do anything to stop Takaya from firing his gun again. Ken seemed to recover a bit and he picked up his spear from where he had dropped it.

"You'll pay for hurting Minako-san," he said angrily.

"Ken," warned Shinjiro.

"Fine then," Takaya pointed his gun at Shinjiro. "First I'll make sure the girl is dead and then come after you."

It was then that air seemed to get dark and heavy. Even for the Dark Hour it felt so sinister. It was like the feeling before a huge Shadow appeared.

_"How dare you harm her…"_

A voice echoed through the air. It was almost a whisper and Akihiko didn't know if he truly heard the words at first. Takaya didn't seem bothered by this and he continued to point his gun at Shinjiro, specifically at Minako.

"What's going on?" asked Ken uncertainly. He looked around nervously. No doubt he was feeling the oppressive presence as well.

_"You will not harm her!"_

The voice was now louder, more forceful. Akihiko's feet slowed to a stop. He was only a few steps away from Minako but something was preventing him from getting any closer.

A choking sound came from Minako's throat and her head was thrown back, her hands clutched tightly in fists. Her red eyes were open wide but they stared at something no one could see.

"Minako!" Shinjiro held her tightly but she continued to shake and that pitiful, painful choking sound kept coming out of her throat. Takaya looked confused and he lowered his gun for a moment.

Akihiko tried to move forward but his feet wouldn't move. It was like Shinjiro, Ken, Takaya and Minako were in some kind of bubble.

"Minako-san!" cried Ken. He glared over at Takaya and with tremendous bravery he stood in front of Shinjiro and Minako. "Shinjiro-san. Take Minako and go. I'll hold Takaya off."

"Ken. Don't be an idiot," snapped Shinjiro. His attention shifted back to Minako who was now practically screaming in pain. His eyes widen. "No way. Could it be, she is losing control of her persona?" He looked up and seemed to notice that Akihiko was standing there. "Aki. What are you doing?"

"I can't get in," called Akihiko. He tried to move forward again but like before, it was like a thick wall was separating them.

Minako was screaming now, her hands groping around for something. Her hand closed around her evoker and she lifted it to her own head. Shinjiro moved to stop her but it was too late. She had somehow pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gun echoed through the still air. Above Minako was not one of her usual persona summons. It was a different one. A new one. No. Akihiko remembered this one. It was the one that had come out of Orpheus. The one that had killed the first huge Shadow. The long skeleton-like head turned to Takaya and it roared angrily.

He fell to the ground clutching his head, about to summon his own persona but Minako's persona just knocked him away. Takaya flew in the air for a few moments before landing on the ground with a thud. Akihiko didn't have time to see if he was okay for the persona turned to Shinjiro. With the same ferocity as before it grabbed Shinjiro and yanked him away from Minako which it held gently in the crook of one arm.

"Akihiko-senpai!"

Akihiko turned to see the others running over. Mitsuru had probably remembered what today was as well and had brought everyone for backup. He was so glad to see them at this moment.

"What is that?" asked Fuuka.

"That's the persona Minako summoned on the first night," said Yukari in surprise.

"But what's it doing?" asked Junpei.

The persona turned to Shinjiro who was leaning against the wall to recover from the blow that was given to him.

"This is bad," Mitsuru took out her evoker. "Akihiko, what is going on?"

"I don't know. Minako was shot by Takaya and then something weird happened. It was like she was spazzing, like how Chidori was when she lost control of her persona only worse. She then somehow got her evoker to her head and pulled it and that was summoned."

"Hang on. Does that mean Minako is not conscious at the moment?" asked Fuuka. "Then how can she control the persona?"

"I believe the persona is moving on its own accord," spoke up Aigis.

"We can figure out the specifics later," Mitsuru ordered. "Fuuka. Give us information. Everyone. I know we're tired from the Shadow fight but this is important."

Fuuka summoned Lucia and began to gather information about the persona while the members of SEES went after the persona. The cloaked creature stopped its advance on Shinjiro when the others started running towards it. It turned to them and roared angrily. Koromaru barked a warning as a huge blast came from the persona. Megidola. Akihiko was barely able to keep his footing as he was just hit by the aftershock of the blast.

Around him the others were summoning their personas to try to stop the wild persona but the attacks didn't even hit for it just flew higher in the air.

"Fuuka," said Mitsuru. "Got anything?" Her eyes stared up at the persona above them. It was lit up by the huge full moon, making it more sinister looking that before. It was like death was looking down at them trying to figure out the best way to kill them.

"It's weird but it's like the huge Shadows we fought-no different. It's more powerful," said Fuuka. Her voice echoed around them since she was inside Lucia.

"That isn't good," said Junpei. "But why is it just staying up there?" He swung his sword in a test swing. "It better come down here so I can kick its ass."

"Shinjiro-senpai!" Yukari took the moment to run to the young man's side. She took one look at the wound and summoned Io.

"Don't waste your energy on me," said Shinjiro. He was leaning against the wall and he looked more tired than he had ever looked. Akihiko was even surprised that he was still conscious after all this.

Yukari ignored Shinjiro's comment. "I don't know if my healing will take care of your wound but it should work until the Dark Hour is over and we can get you to a hospital."

Linelineline

Minako hurt all over. Her chest hurt the most but the rest of her body felt like it was on fire. She cracked open her eyes and realized she was leaning on something cold. Looking up she saw a huge creature of some sort was holding her. No. It was the persona she had summoned the first time. What was going on?

A voice rang through her head. A familiar voice. Pharos. _"Don't worry. I healed your wound using our power."_

"What's going on?" she asked. She blinked. Why was her voice so hoarse? It sounded like she had been screaming for a long time. She stared up at the skeletal head of the persona. For some reason she felt safe in its arms. Like she knew it somehow. Thanatos. Yes-that was its name.

The persona shifted suddenly and Minako saw a flash of fire in the spot where they had been. And Hermes. Why was Junpei's persona here? When Thanatos had dodged the fire attack she got a look at the ground. There were her friends. They were looking up at her-no at Thanatos. Fuuka was inside Lucia. Wait. Was there a battle going on?

Minako felt her stomach drop as Thanatos flew higher in the sky and Minako saw a flash of Cerberus. They were fighting Thanatos?

"What is going on?" she asked the persona as it flew back and forth. Thanatos roared and lifted a hand. Minako's eyes widen as she saw a huge blast shake the ground where her friends were. Was that a megidola? "What are you doing?" she screamed.

_"I will protect you from those that try to harm you…"_ The voice was like Pharos's but not. There was something off with it.

"They are my friends!" Minako cried in protest. But Thanatos didn't seem to want to listen to her. It lifted its hand, probably to use another megidola.

No.

She couldn't let it happen. She put her hand to her gun holster and her eyes widen when she didn't feel her evoker in it. She looked down to make sure. Yup. She didn't have her evoker. It must be on the ground. Now what?

She deiced that trying something was the best thing she could do. If only she could distract Thanatos for a few seconds. Wait. She got it. She bit her lip. It was a risky long shot but it looked like there wasn't much choice at the moment. She was just going to have to try.

Linelineline

"That thing just keeps dodging our attacks," said Junpei. His frustration was clear.

They had been lucky with the megidola for now. Akihiko had put up barriers to reduce the damage and Yukari had been healing like crazy. Even with those, they knew if they get hit directly by one of those attacks they were done. Whatever that thing was, it was too powerful.

"It's getting ready to use another one!" exclaimed Yukari.

However it never happened. Akihiko narrowed his eyes. It looked like something had pushed away from Thanatos and was now falling towards the group.

Fuuka gasped loudly. "The thing that's falling. It's Minako-chan!"

Akihiko felt his heart almost stop. What was she doing? And how could she be awake to push away from that persona?

"We have to catch her!" cried Yukari. "She'll die if she hits the ground!"

"I will catch her!" Aigis ran under Minako and lifted her mechanical arms up. Unlike any of the others in the group she was probably the only one who could catch her without suffering the effects of gravity too much.

"Use the opening!" screamed Minako as she fell towards them.

The persona roared and dove after Minako in order to catch her again before she hit the ground.

"You heard her!" ordered Mitsuru. She pulled her evoker's trigger and told Penthesila to hit the persona with an ice attack.

The others followed her in quick succession except for Aigis who was calculating Minako's falling path. The persona screeched in pain and was buffed back the attacks. However it didn't seem to affect it for long for it dove after Minako again but by then she had already fallen into Aigis's arms. With surprising agility for someone that had been shot she dove to the ground and grabbed her fallen evoker and pointed it to her head. She didn't pull it but she held it there.

"Enough Thanatos!" she screamed loudly.

The persona slowed to a stop before her and seemed to look at her for a few moments before fading away.

She sighed and dropped the hand holding her evoker. The members of SEES ran over to her. Akihiko made it there first. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Minako smiled. "Of course I am." Her eyes closed and she crumpled to the ground.


End file.
